The Death of Interval Training
The Death of Interval Training? -by Mike Whitfield, CTT
“Intervals are so 2010” – Craig Ballantyne, at the 2012 TT Summit
Now I’ll be the first to admit that interval training is superior to long cardio for fat loss. You already know that… nothing groundbreaking there.
When interval training did come to the scene, it excited you. Why wouldn’t it? Burn more fat in less time? Sure. Sign me up.
It was exciting. It was something proven to work and save you time. Although, the sad part is that we’re still seeing way too many people that STILL walk mindlessly on the treadmill for 30, 40, even 60 minutes or more. Yet, these people look the exact same as they did weeks, months or even a year earlier. Hey, I’ve seen people at my gym look the same after several years of doing cardio for their “workout”… and not a single change in their appearance, either.
But intervals came in and rescued you from your boring marathon cardio sessions and added much needed “spice” to your workouts.
It’s just like the trends of MySpace and Facebook. Ha… yeah… MySpace. Do you remember that? You see, MySpace was the long cardio of social media. It was all people knew. They didn’t know about Facebook because it hadn’t “caught on” yet… just like interval training.
Then Facebook became more and more popular, and everyone jumped off the MySpace train to hop onto Facebook to network with friends, connect with family, etc., etc. They saw the value that Facebook had to offer and they got more out of it then MySpace.
Now obviously, Facebook is here to stay.
You’re probably already seeing that same kind of trend in the fitness industry. First it was long, boring cardio. Then intervals came around. And as you can see in the Home Workout Revolution and many of the recent TT workouts you’ve been working so hard through, there’s a new and even more exciting “Interval Training Sheriff” in town.
Now it’s all about the Workout Finishers.
And why not? After all, interval training replaced long cardio because studies proved you can get the same if not better results in less time.
But even more recent studies have shown that you can get amazing results in as little as 3-4 minutes using Workout Finishers.
It’s not your normal interval training, either. You won’t go hard for 30 seconds followed by 30 seconds of rest. That’s so 2010, remember?
The real secret to effective Workout Finishers is a special combination of four things:
1. A lot of density in a little bit of time (density = work)
2. Very short rest periods (sometimes with NO rest)
3. Big compound movements
4. Active recovery
When you put all of these together, you’ll get a powerful combination that will not only burn more fat, but improve your overall conditioning (which means better workout performance), increase your athleticism and create more muscle definition.
If you think about – it makes sense. When you’re doing standard interval training, what muscles are being worked? Most of the time, it’s just your legs. That’s not much “metabolic activity” for your muscles.
But when you combine a variety of pulling, pushing, lower body and ab exercises, you’ll discover that you can burn even more calories using a finisher approach instead.
But it’s more than that. It’s the adrenaline rush you get when you complete one. Certainly you can give around 5 minutes the most intense effort of your day… and I mean leave it all on the floor.
That’s how finishers work.
With crazy set and rep schemes using the density approach, gauntlets, ladders and metabolic circuits, you’ll never get bored with your workouts, either. You already know that when you’re excited about your workouts and you’re getting faster results, you’ll stay more consistent.
That’s exactly what Workout Finishers do for you. It’s your adrenaline-infused workout grand finale that lets you unleash all the pinned up energy you THINK you didn’t have inside.
My favorite part though, is the crazy rep schemes. For example, let’s take the second finisher in the NEW Workout Finishers 2.0 manual.
Do this on your off day or immediately after your workout for a fat-burning adrenaline rush…
The “One By One” Density Finisher
Do the following circuit as many times as possible in 5 minutes, resting only when needed.
- Lunge Jump (1/side)
- Squat Thrust (1)
- Burpee/Pullup Combo or Burpee (1)
- Lateral Jump (1/side)
- Spiderman Climb (1/side)
When I tested this one, I was blown away at how intense this was by simply having to go from a standing exercise to a floor exercise, let alone knocking out round after round because they were all just 1 rep each.
But the key to this finisher is to put in QUALITY reps. So if your form gets sloppy, it’s time to take a rest. Then jump back in as soon as possible.
You can’t get this kind of rush from interval training. So, really… Workout Finishers is the new “Facebook of Fitness”.
Don’t get left behind with the MySpace of fitness called “intervals” and have more fun with some fun Workout Finishers instead.
See you at the finish,
Mike Whitfield, CTT
Author, Workout Finishers 2.0 System